Is your spare tire mounted on little tee nuts? Check it out
My trailer’s spare tire mount is on the back wall of the trailer. I was thinking about mounting a small one-gallon gas can (for my generator) on top of the spare. (That project will be described in a separate post, coming soon.) But before I began the gas can project, I took a good hard look at the spare tire mount.
I removed the spare and realized that all four of the bolts holding the mount onto the back wall were a little loose – yikes! Worse yet, when I tried to tighten them, they did not tighten.
It turns out that the tee nuts inside the back wall of the trailer were rotating as I tried to tighten the bolts – the little prongs anchoring the tee nuts had bent.
Clearly, the tee nuts were not adequate for the load of the spare tire, especially given the vibration and shock caused by the spare tire on rough roads. This is what the tee nuts looked like – tiny and inadequate:
Click For Full-Size Image.
So instead of the original quarter inch steel bolts, I put in 3/8 inch stainless steel bolts. Instead of tee nuts, I added a thick piece of steel bar and used heavy duty lock washers and nuts:
Click For Full-Size Image.
Now the load will be distributed over a wider area of the back wall, reducing the “force per square inch” caused by the weight and vibration of the spare tire. And you can bet that I will check these bolts and nuts every so often, just to make darn sure that everything is secure.
I removed the spare and realized that all four of the bolts holding the mount onto the back wall were a little loose – yikes! Worse yet, when I tried to tighten them, they did not tighten.
It turns out that the tee nuts inside the back wall of the trailer were rotating as I tried to tighten the bolts – the little prongs anchoring the tee nuts had bent.
Clearly, the tee nuts were not adequate for the load of the spare tire, especially given the vibration and shock caused by the spare tire on rough roads. This is what the tee nuts looked like – tiny and inadequate:
Click For Full-Size Image.So instead of the original quarter inch steel bolts, I put in 3/8 inch stainless steel bolts. Instead of tee nuts, I added a thick piece of steel bar and used heavy duty lock washers and nuts:
Click For Full-Size Image.Now the load will be distributed over a wider area of the back wall, reducing the “force per square inch” caused by the weight and vibration of the spare tire. And you can bet that I will check these bolts and nuts every so often, just to make darn sure that everything is secure.
